Rugged PDA warranty running out – What do you do now?

It’s end of year and many of you will have purchased your rugged mobile equipment 1, 2 or 3 years from now and the warranty or service packs just might be expiring! So what do you do? We explain and help right here.

Warranty

Warranty is a very basic level of cover, usually over a 12 month period for rugged hardware with some suppliers running 24 month extended warranty for free. So just what can you do to extend your warranty beyond the 12 months mark?

Firstly check to see if this can be done with the supplier of your choice. Most don’t extend warranty unless you take it out at the time of purchase and many don’t extend it at all. However all is not lost because you can usually still get support and cover through your reseller who can help plan and create support for the next 12 months for you.

Your second option is to uplift to a contract based service pack instead. Most rugged devices have this option but you will probably need to assess the risk in some way and also provide a few constraints on how much or how quickly you can make support claims but the option to add cover is there and can be taken with most brands.

Service pack renewals

If you have a service form the start contracted style support pack then you’ve enjoyed a TCO service and will probably want to extend that if you choose to keep your rugged equipment for longer. Well don’t worry, normally your reseller will have contacted you anyway about the renewal but if not then you definitely have the option to extend what you have for another 12 months at a time.

Service pack renewals are often very quick and easy to do as long as they’re done before the expiry date, beyond that they get very difficult to re-apply so make sure you leave plenty of time to negotiate your renewals.

Adhoc support

There are also a growing number of service centres that can offer more adhoc support for you and this market is growing because it serves a growing need for smaller businesses. Those who are happy to pay for repairs but just want them done quickly can take a service product like our Warranty+ or Warranty PRO which gives an out of warranty service that’s very flexible but also has a fast turn around. These are often a cheap way to gain access to a service that is portal driven, fast efficient and often very good with very little commitment needed up front.

Don’t bother!

Many businesses simply don’t bother. if you had few issues then we could understand that but more businesses are also carrying buffer swap out stock themselves these days which means they no longer require the speed that a repair centre can offer. Be careful though, if your device get’s discontinued you might not be able to get any repairs at all on some of the larger brands and repair bills can be costly but for some this still works out the best way forward.

About The Author

Dave's one of the founders of Raptor, his rants are memorable, his thoughts are stimulating and his heart is set on helping, entertaining and making things like mobile, Android, ruggedness, 3D printing and IOT simple.